General Information
Sacramento International Airport is located within 10 miles (approximately 16 km) to the northwest of downtown Sacramento. Sacramento is known as the Capital City in Sacramento County, California, U.S. The airport serves the Greater Sacramento Area. It is a publicly owned entity, managed by the Sacramento County Airport System. Sacramento International airport is considered to be the main gateway to the California State and Old Sacramento. The airport codes are IATA: SMF, FAA LID: SMF, ICAO: KSMF.
Besides, the airport is the gateway for Northern California getaways, including the Napa Wine Country, Yosemite National Park, and Lake Tahoe. All airports (including SMF) under the system of Sacramento County Airport (previously known as the Sacramento County Department of Airports) are self-supporting among user rentals and fees. Additionally, no state/local or any federal tax funds are used for the operation of the costs.
Capacity
According to the statistics announced in 2016, about 8.9 million passengers were served in 2014; Passenger growth continued with 9.6 million passengers in 2015 and 10.1 million in 2016. In 2017, the airport reached its 2007 high of 10.7 with 10.9 million passengers. Sacramento has the fewest international flights amongst 35 largest metropolitans in the country. Recently in 2019, SMF reached 13,172,840 passengers.
History and Economic Impact
In 1967 of October 21, Sacramento International Airport (SMF) was opened as Sacramento Metropolitan Airport (the airfield was itself Sacramento Metropolitan field) with one 8600-foot runway. In 1967 the first purpose-built public-use airport – Sacramento Metropolitan was opened in the west of the Mississippi. The airport had five airlines, such as Pacific Air Lines, United Airlines, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), West Coast Airlines and Western Airlines. In 2008, as the nation's economy had a hit, commercial aviation ended with a reduced number of passengers, and on the other hand, the fuel and additional costs were increasing. Sometime after this economic impact, in 2011, Sacramento International Airport managed and carried approximately 9 million passengers, averaged by 323 daily flights.